cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35891683
I have changed the original title of this post, as it is imo, thanks largely to discussion in this thread, with a lemmyusa mod, unnecessarily incendiary.
Original Title:
ālemmyusa.com is engaging in vote manipulation, suggest defederating unless it is addressedā
Mod Abuse:
https://lemmy.world/modlog/1432313?page=1&actionType=All
The instance has 3 active subs, itās unlikely the admins are not also the mods engaging in this.
Banning anyone who downvotes is a clear attempt to foster a chilling effect on dissenting opinions. The mods and admins of this instance are putting their thumb on the scales in order to make their ideas appear more positively received than they actually are.
Thanks for your attention to this.
I realize that doing a cross post here isā¦ unorthodox, and this doesnāt drectly involve my own interactions, and I am technically breaking a number of the rules of this commā¦
ā¦ but I think this is worth the discussion and consideration of, and potential further investigation from this comm, which essentially functions as a de facto place for discussing things like this.
Further context / info I have been able to gather:
Here is a direct link to their own modlog.
Their dedicated legal page:
Their described āsidebar rulesā appear to only be:
Weāre keeping it simple:
Be thoughtful, act responsibly, and treat others with respect.
No NSFW content.
Everything else seems to be in the Legal / TOS / Privacy Policy section.
My preliminary, most charitable interpretation of mod/admin activity hereā¦ is that they can and will essentially ban anyone who posts on their instance and is not a lemmyusa user, as any other user would not have agreed to their TOS.
???
Further, this instance appears to be hosting an account that is impersonating SatansMaggotyCumFart, a fairly well known, mostly parody/dedicated ābitā account here on lemmyā¦
The profile description of their version of SMCF claims to be āthe only real profile!ā, and is using a clearly AI generated avatar/profile picā¦ and uh, to me at least, it seems very unlikely this is the actual SMCF.
UPDATE:
Ok.
After some conversation in this thread, I should add:
There is, and there was at the time this all started, a rule in the comm that much of these downvote bans took place in, which reads:
āNo Serial Downvoting.ā
Personally, I find this rather vague.
How many dowmvotes, in what timeframe, across how many comms/comments/posts, etc?
I am also still uncertain to what extent these actually are dedicated, persistent, serial downvoters, vs just a whole lot of randos seeing something on their feed and then downvoting it and moving on.
I get the intent behind trying to stem a mass wave of negativity, nobody likes a wave of mass downvotes and hostile commentsā¦
But on the other hand, there should probably be a bit more clarity and specificity here, less heavy handed actions for less comitted and persistent behavior.
IMO, a balance has to be struck between allowing people to genuienly freely express their opinion via downvoting, but at the same time, there are clearly also cases where people or groups of people basically just downvote all comments or posts from a specific user or in a certain comm or pertaining to a certain topic, etc.
I myself am fairly confident I have managed to attract at least one person who downvotes all my posts/comments on their instance, simply because I am on their shitlist, apparently.
So ideallyā¦ we could maybe have a constructive conversation about that.
As to the SatansMaggotyCumFart profile on lemmyusa being an impersonatory account:
Weāve got one mod from lemmyusa here saying he really isnāt sure, and personally blocked him, I think from his own user standpoint, not from the standpoint of himself as a mod.
IMO, the account still strikes me as likely another person, impersonating the actual userā¦ I of course cannot be certain, but the profile still strikes me as very sus.
Finally, I am least personally going to strongly discourage any one reading this from popping in to lemmyusa and going out of your way to downvote every single thing on there simply because it is on that instance.
They are already in more or less lockdown mode, call that a win if you must.
I did not intend nor do I want this very post to act as an attack vector.
UPDATE 2
SatansMaggotyCumFart, the real one, has appeared in this thread and confirmed that the lemmyusa profile is indeed an impersonation, is not them.
because youāre locking all topics in fear of discussion, voting is the only way to interact with your community.
its not fear of discussion. its comments are always hateful and extreme espcially after the kirk killing. Lemmy doensāt want to ādiscussā anyting. they wanna just type ānaziā and āfascistā over and over.
if a locked post gets 30 downvotes within 5 minutes, u think those people would have ādiscussedā anyting. not only that, i see the reports when they report. the reports usually sya ādie fascist dieā lol which is what the comment woudl say too.
Then maybe consider posting actual conservative content instead of just hateful alt-right ānewsā that is trying to incite culture wars.
Hereās the front page of the community right now. can u let me know which articles you think are hateful? can u quote some hateful content from thes articles?
Why More Blacks and Hispanics Are Turning Republican
The Accomplishments of Black Conservative Thought
Why the American Founding Matters for American Conservatism
Americansā Views of Space: U.S. Role, NASA Priorities and Impact of Private Companies
Texas Tech student arrested after hurling vile comments at Charlie Kirk mourners
FBI Confirms DNA Found at Scene of Charlie Kirk Assassinās Hiding Spot Matches Suspect
Teen arrested ādestroyingā Charlie Kirk memorial as chilling copycat fantasy exposed
Coldplay Frontman Chris Martin Tells Concertgoers to Send Love to Charlie Kirkās Family
Suspect in Charlie Kirk killing under special watch pending mental health evaluation
On Intellectual Diversity
A Conservative Definition of Diversity
āOngoing Hate Campaign of the Democrat Apparatus āLed Directlyā to Charlie Kirk Assassinationā
i donāt think that pointing out hate is hateful. look at all the meme and smiley faces after someone is brutally murdered. you donāt think that thatās hateful?
here on lemmy i saw someone discussing the murder, and how much blood thre was. then people were laughing and someone psoted a meme of a dam of water releasing. and it was getting upvotes. thatās hateful. i have seen more hate on lemmy lately than ever before. reporting about it isnāt the problem
additionally, like half of the posts are about an ultimately unimportant public figure dying in a school shooting. If you donāt want people expressing their oppinion about that, maybe consider not posting about it, and get over it already. You guys over there are usually quicker to do that, when it comes to children dying in schools.
thatās in the news tho. all the major news orgs are reporting it. it was a major news event, even if u personally think itās unimportant. also not as many today since news is evening out.
half of the recent articles over in !politcs were of the shooting too, did you complalin to them that they shoudl stop posting articles about it? why is our community held to a different standard than any other comm on lemmy?
can u show me something that is hateful? whats a hateful article on there?
deleted by creator
can u show me something that is hateful? whats a hateful article on there?
I will not link anything, but a breitbart article that YOU posted, trying to blame the Democrats for the Kirk school shooting is a prime example. Itās just another article hatemongering, fingerpointing and trying to fuel a culture war over in the US.
Get real!
so do u point this out to all the people on lemmy who say that kirk deserved it and that his republican ideas got him killed? Beause thatās saying same thing, just different party name. ive seen pleny on lemmy blaming republicans for the murder and saying it was secret ops. do you point out that they are hatemongering? is blaming republican for it ok? i donāt think posing a news article reporting on hate counts as hate. having said that i think both sides shold be nicer, but i see so much of lemmy saying they are ādone being nice, itās time for warā so iām nto sure why im being pointed at for this
So instead of trying to make a better place, youāre just going to make the same thing with an oposite spin? Why not just call your community āno uā then? Just stop your whataboutism, this is about your ācommunityā. With it being locked it is not really a community. Itās like the moderators shared little notepad that they can post their links to. There is no discussion of ideas going on, there is no way to engage other than pressing the up- or downvote button.
I donāt understand how anyone can think thatās a good use of anyoneās time or resources.
Complaining about about mass downvotes when all you do is post links, without your own input, without others being able to input their ideas feels like intentionally breaking your leg and then complaining that you canāt walk right.
I have a strong feeling about why you and your friends made this community, and why you donāt want anyone to post in there, and the post titled āSo I pissed off Lemmyā, gloating about is is a prime example of it. Have your little echo chamber of hate.
Goodbye
i think my community is a better place. i have as much right to be here as you do. if you donāt like my community donāt visit. no one is forcing you to visit a community u donāt like
my time my resources not ur time or ur resources so it shouldnt bother you
thanks I do have my little echo chamber. and u can have yours too. i donāt have to visit yours and u donāt have to visit mine. no one is forcing you to visit my community. if you donāt like it, donāt visit. easy